New Beginnings
by poopertrooper
Summary: It's both Arthur and Alfred's first day of school, except that it's Alfred's first as a teacher! And Arthur, the little brother, has to finally stand up and experiance childhood. Will they survive? Read and find out! Started out as a one-shot!
1. Confunding Buttons!

_Hello,it's me again! I got another story I wanted to share, and it's starting to form into a multi-chapter thing, so please watch out for future chapters of this story! It originally started as a one-shot from my 600 themes list, but it kinda grew into something else, and it's only been two days since I wrote it! And it's also a role-reversed EnglandxAmerica parental fic as well, so it's like __**Age Downgrade **__mixed with my FMA fic __**An Alchemist's Pride and Joy**__, without the neko child, lol~ Please enjoy and review, fave, and check out my poll!_

_..._

_**Confunding Buttons!**_

_**A Hetalia: Axis Powers Oneshot**_

_**By A Hot Delicious Cup Of Tea**_

_..._

Little four year old Arthur Kirkland had a problem. It was a time-consuming, absolutely frustrating situation he was stuck in. The thing was, it seemed to be an almost regular predicament for him. He couldn't figure out how to button up any of his shirts that had buttons.

His older brother, Alfred, had taught him time after time how to do it, and it seemed so easy when he showed Arthur how. But everytime he had to do it himself without any help, he froze up in nervousness.

He would usually solve the problem by either declaring that he needed a different top or running to Alfred insisting he needed help, the last choice happening rarely.

Today, though, was his first day of going to what Alfred called 'play school', and he really wanted to show his big brother that he could dress himself without any help at all. So he really needed to get the buttons on his plaid vest on, and quickly! He didn't have the thirty minutes he used to have, because Alfred now had a paying job as a teacher who taught 6th graders Math and Science, which Arthur didn't understand the improtance of. It just ment that Alfred had to leave about twenty minutes eariler then he used to when he ever left the house in the morning at all.

It left Arthur with about five minutes to figure out what to do before Alfred would come in wondering if Arthur was ready to go or not.

He didn't know what to do at all! Everytime he seemed to get a button in, it would come right back out the moment he tried to get another in.

As he fumbled with the tiny nightmares, he began to whimper in frustration. Those cunfunded buttons! He felt his hair start to get into his eyes as he glared down at his vest front, and he started to stomp his feet angerly around his bedroom.

He didn't have much longer, he knew, and he really wanted to make his big brother proad of him, but he was failing!

As he made that realization, he felt a tear come to his eye, he was so unhappy, he was about to cry. Why couldn't he get the button into the hole?

Arthur sat down beside his tiny backpack and started crying softly to himself. He had given up, and didn't want to run to Alfred for help in his state.

He stayed like that for only a few minutes until Alfred came in, dressed in a simi-fancy sky-blue suit with a necktie that had 'Caution' signs Arthur had given him the previous Father's Day.

"Arthur, why are you crying?" Alfred asked as he got down on the floor beside the tot, grabbing the tissue box from the nightstand nearby. "Are you nervous about play school? There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

"C-Could you button up my vest, please Alfred?" Arthur finally managed a moment later between gasps, rubbing tears from his grass-green eyes.

"Cirtainly, sweet sugar-scone." the older brother replied, calling him by his nickname.

"I-I'm sorry I couldn't b-button myself, A-Alfred. I-I tried t-to do it, b-but it j-just wouldn't!"

"Oh, so that's why," Alfred sighed, finishing the job quickly. "Well, I'm glad you tried your hardest, but we'll just nedd to try again next time, hm? Now blow into the tissue."

Arthur blew his nose into the tissue, making a disgusted face as he did so, and then looked up at Alfred. "I kinda hope that I can do everything by myself when I grow up, Alfred. 'Cause then I'd be happier, wouldn't you?"

The remark startled Alfred for a moment, but he then grinned shortly after, lifting Arthur back onto his feet, clad in horse riding shoes. "I suppose, but everyone needs a little help here and there, you know? I sometimes go to you or even to Granmamma for help when I need it. Like when I need to know what channel the Tarheels game is on, and you'll remember and tell me, right?"

Arthur nodded, standing a little striaghter. He then immeadiately grabbed his rainbow backpack and tore out of the room, exclaiming; "WE'RE LATE TO WORK, ALFRED! TEN MINUTES LATE!"

(The end of one-shot, but to be continued...)

...

_Hey, I hope you like this, because there will be more. And I'll give you a short preview now..._

_**Preview of Chapter Two of 'New Beginnings'**_

_ "Hello! You must be Mr. Jones, the new teacher!" they were greeted by a beautiful redheaded woman who was sitting behind a simple desk. "And who's this? You must be his son! I have a son too! Most adorable boy in the entire world!"_

_ "Samantha. He's my __little__ brother. And I know nearly everything about Allistor. I just came to check myself in, okay?" Alfred almost growled, starting to slowly walk away._

_ "Who's Allistor? He sounds like some kind of dinosaur." Arthur asked, his curiousity peaked again._

_ "It sure does, doesn't it? Well, because his father is of Scottish roots, he had to have a Scottish name, or I would've named him something like Axel or even Alvin." Samantha egerly answered Arthur's question, leaning on the edge of her desk_

_ "Momma! Don't talk about my name! I'll tell Daddy when we get home!" Arthur heard a load child's voice as someone stepped out of another room within the office..._

_Make sure to check out this and more in the next chapter of my new series, __**New Beginnings**__, coming out soon!~_

_~A Hot Delicious Cup Of Tea_


	2. First Day For Fun!

_And now, I present you with the next chapter of __**New Beginnings**__. I hope you do enjoy! Don't forget to review, favorite, and check out my poll!~_

_..._

_**New Beginnings**_

_**A Hetalia Fanfic**_

_**Chapter Two**_

_**By A Hot Delicious Cup Of Tea**_

...

"Alfred, can you open the door, please?" Arthur asked, dragging off of the front doorknob with one hand, his stuffed mint bunny in the other, and backpack securely on his back.

"Yes, yes. I'm already running late." Alfred rushed as he removed Arthur off and began to undo the locks, opening the door outside.

It was four year old Arthur's first day of what his older brother Alfred called 'play school', and he was quite excited, for he thought that life was always different, and he had to figure out why. Now he would have a totally different environment to explore, nothing like the various childcare places he'd been in for short times over the years, and not like the house he had been in with Alfred nearly his entire life.

It haden't been just him and Alfred the whole time, because Arthur had been born when Alfred was still in a place called 'college'. He didn't meet Arthur until their parents were sent off to the mental ward when Arthur was one and a half. Alfred had no choice but to either take him in or give him to Social Services, where he'd never see him again for possibly the rest of his life. Social Services rarely visited them, which was mostly fortunate in the pair's busy-ish lives.

Anyways, once they had driven off in Alfred's nice Volkswagon Jetta, it didn't take long for Arthur to grow impatieant, even with the picture books that stayed in piles in the backseat of the car. He tried to quench his boredom by counting all the Volkswagons he saw (for they were the only car make he knew), but they amounted to very few, and he soon gave up, resorting to kicking under his seat using the heels of his new riding shoes.

"Arthur, stop that. You'll put marks on the seat." Alfred said as he drove, looking at Arthur through his dash mirror.

"How long is it gonna be till we get to play school?" Arthur asked, almosy whining as he did so.

"Not much longer, about five minutes, I suppose. Can you stay calm for that?"

Arthur made a sound similar to a horse whinnying, and layed his head against the back of the seat, deciding to go to sleep.

But sleep never came for him. It usually didn't once he had already woken up, anyway. He ended up pretending to play dead until Alfred had parked the car, even when Alfred came to unbuckle him fromhis carseat.

"Oh, you must've fallen asleep. Well, I guess I'll have to carry you in, huh?" Alfred remarked as he unfastened Arthur's seatbelt.

Arthur immeadiately 'came back from the dead', and shook his head. _He would not be seen by his new classmates as a baby who to be carried everywhere, they'd make fun of him, no doubt!_

Alfred seemed to catch on quickly, and he just went as far as to lift Arthur out of the car and into the parking lot, closing the door to the bright orange Jetta.

Arthur was amazed by what he saw. The parking lot he was standing on was huge, even though there weren't many cars, and the three school buildings were ginormous, built with russet-red brick and large windows. But the thing that surprized him most was the playground.

The playground had monkeybars, swing sets, two huges playsets, and what looked like a gaint plastic igloo. He had never seen a playground as big as that one, except in Lunchables commercials.

"Wow...I'm really gonna get to play on that playground, Alfred?" Arthur asked, pulling on Alfred's sky blue pants while pointing to the playground.

"This evening, I guess," Alfred said as he finished getting his things out of the car. "But that's the elementary school's playground. The play school one is much smaller then that, but the class is full of things to do, so don't worry about it, okay?"

"But...I want to play on the big playground, Alfred! It's not fair at all!"

"I understand that it isn't fair, but we don't have enough time to discuss that. I have to get ready for my classes."

"Wait, what do you mean, Alfred? I thought I was gonna go to my class first!" Arthur said,shocked expression on his face.

"Your teachers won't even be here for another hour and a half, Artie. You'll be in my classroom until then. Come on, let's go." Alfred quickly grabbed Arthur's hand and lead him into the front office at the Middle School.

"Hello! You must be Mr. Jones, the new teacher!" they were greeted by a beautiful redheaded woman who was sitting behind a simple desk. "And who's this? You must be his son! I have a son too! Most adorable boy in the entire world!"

"Samantha. He's my little brother. And I know nearly everything about Allistor. I just came to check myself in, okay?" Alfred almost growled, starting to slowly walk away.

"Who's Allistor? He sounds like some kind of dinosaur." Arthur asked, his curiousity peaked again.

"It sure does, doesn't it? Well, because his father is of Scottish roots, he had to have a Scottish name, or I would've named him something like Axel or even Alvin." Samantha egerly answered Arthur's question, leaning on the edge of her desk

"Momma! Don't talk about my name! I'll tell Daddy when we get home!" Arthur heard a load child's voice as someone stepped out of another room within the office.

"Oh, Allistor! You're covered in applesauce! Come on, dear. You need to get another shirt on before you go off to playschool."

"But Momma, it's my Lake Loch Ness shirt! You can't make me wear another one even if you wanted me to!" the same voice finally had a form.

He was about the same age as Arthur, but he had dark red hair and piercing green eyes. He even had a small golden earring on his left ear!

"Then maybe you shouldn't be so messy with your breakfast, hun. Now let's go change your shirt!" Samantha seemed to be getting strained very quickly.

"NO!" Allistor nearly shrieked, tearing past Arthur and down the hall, going to a place Arthur didn't know the location of.

Arthur was wide-eyed with admiration. He had never seem someone close to his age who could be so difiant and tough. He'd never be able to get away with that, or he would've been most likely spanked by Alfred if he had had a tantrum and had run away like so.

"Aw, chucks. Guess I have to go and find him. You guys go on, alright?" Samantha murmured, standing up next to her desk.

Seeing it as his chance to leave the office, Alfred picked Arthur up and began to take him out of the room.

"H-Hey Alfred! Put me down! I'm big enough to walk on my own, you know!" Arthur protested, sqiurming to get out of Alfred's grip.

"Just wait a moment, Arthur, I swear! You're usually _never_ this awake this early in the morning!"

Arthur continued to struggle until Alfred approuched a class-room door. "Is this your classroom, Alfred?"

"Sure is, Artie. This is where I hope to be teaching for the next twenty-three years." Alfred answered as he unlocked the door with a key Arthur hadn't seen before on Alfred's keyring.

"Twenty-three? That's a whole long time, Alfred. I'll be really old by then, won't I?"

"You'll be twenty-seven by then, and that will make you older then I am now." Alfred chuckled as he set Arthur back onto the ground.

"How old are you again?" Arthur asked, even though he knew, but sometimes Alfred would pretend he was younger by a year or two.

"I'm twenty-two years old, Arts. Now why don't you find a desk and make yourself comfortable while I get ready?"

"Okay! I'm going to count how many chairs there are!" the four year old exclaimed, running off to begin counting the different colored chairs.

It wasn't too much later when Arthur ran over to Alfred, who was setting things such as important papers onto his new desk.

"Hey Alfred! Guess what I found!" Arthur said cheerfully, bouncing on his feet beside the desk.

"What, sweet sugar-scone?" Alfred looked up just in time for a book to shoved into his lap.

The book had a picture of a family of rabbits on the cover, and it seemed to be entirely about a family of rabbits who survived in a harsh climate.

"Can you read it to me right now?" Arthur pleaded, putting on his best puppy-eyes.

Alfred gave Arthur a 'Not right now, can't you _see_ I'm busy.' look, and sighed. "Maybe when we get home from school, that sound cool, Arthur?"

"Aw, fiddlesticks. Okay then, meanie Alfredpants." Arthur mumbled, walking back to where he had placed his backpack in a purple chair.

The two brothers stayed like that for a short period of time, because that was when the school opening bell rang in its shrill voice, startling Arthur.

"Arthur, come sit over here in my computer chair, you're in a student's chair that someone will eventually sit in." Alfred instructed, going over to Arthur and getting his things over to his desk, the toddler following him slowly.

"Your class isn't any fun, Alfred." Arthur complained as he was placed in the large, cushiony spin-chair.

Moments later, a medium-sized group of students gathered at the doorway to the classroom, all chattering away. Alfred went over to them with a pad of paper in hand, and bagan to direct them to their seats, in which they still went on talking, until one of the girl students caught sight of Arthur.

"Oh, my god! Allison, Mr. Jones has a son! I thought he was too young!"

Soon, Arthur was surrounded by most of the class, being asked various questions and also being prodded and poked. It was unfortunate Alfred was too busy talking to the other teacher he was supposed to be working with to notice that Arthur needed help!

"So, is Mr. Jones nice to you?" "Do you get fed regularly?" students would ask, while Arthur just buried his face into his knees, afraid to answer in fear that he'd get the answer wrong.

"Hold up, class. What are you doing?" he finally caught Alfred's attention!

"We were just talking to your son!" one boy replied, turning around to face Alfred.

"He's not my son, class. He is just my little brother. Now would you _please_ take your seats and copy what I have written on the board in your notebooks?" Alfred quickly dispearsed the huddle, and lifted the scared Arthur into his arms.

"T-That was scary, Alfred. When am I going to playschool?" Arthur whispered, wrapping his arms around Alfred's neck.

"I'm really sorry, sweet sugar-scone. I had to talk to my other team teacher, Mr. Belischmidt. You'll be escorted by Mrs. Oliver, who you know as Samantha, and her son Allistor in about ten minutes, just bear with me." Alfred placed a light kiss on Arthur's fore-head, and put him back onto the floor, immeadiately going to straighten the plaid vest Arthur had had so much trouble with only hours before.

"This must be an unlucky vest, 'cause everything's been going wrong since I tried putting it on." Arthur said, glaring at it angryly.

"Or it just might be your expectations are a little too high. That can happen, you know." Alfred pointed out gently.

Arthur agreed after a moment's thought, and then he went over to Alfred's desk to grab his thing, then climbing into Alfred's roller-chair, almost falling off in the process.

As Alfred started his class by explaining things, Arthur was quietly discovering how awesome the chair he was in was.

He started out by scooting the chair slowly forward, but finding he only do so if he contiuiously grabbed onto the various tables around him. That journey took him out of the room, he soon noticed, for he was in the middle of the hallway. He had to get out of the way before someone caught him!

But before he could make any moves, the chair was pushed, propelling him down the hallway.

"Hey, who did that?" Arthur sqeaked, looking over the back of the chair, to see Allistor, looking amazed by the feat he just preformed.

"Oh, it's you from eariler. I'm Allistor, and you are?" Allistor asked curiously, walking around to the front of the chair.

"I'm Arthur. Arthur Kirkland. Hasn't your mother found you yet? It's almost time to go to playschool, you know."

"I know that, and nay, she hasen't found me yet! I'm a terrific hider, if you must know. So I know where the class we're going to is."

"Oh, that's great. Why don't we go now?" Arthur asked, hopping down off of the chair.

"Sure, but you need to put that chair back into whatever class you got it from."

Arthur nodded as he started pushing the roller-chair back to Alfred's classroom. When he got there, he left it outside the door, and then ran over to a large door, where Allistor was waiting for him.

"Are you ready now, eyebrows?" Allistor asked, leaning up against the wall.

"M-My eyebrows are not _that_ big! I-It came from my Mommy!" Arthur retorted, quite shocked by the insult.

"You're British, aren't you? You have that accenty thing that Brits have."

"Daddy...I think he might've been a Britishman...But I don't remember real well."

"That makes sense...Now come on, we're gonna be late!" Allistor grabbbed Arthur's hand and opened the door, the both of them running outside...

(To be continued...)

_ I had to cut the chapter short, for reasons...Okay, just cause I wanted to. But I promise the next part sometime tomarrow or Monday, for it's gonna be REALLY short now._

_ Please do Review, favorite, watch and check out my poll!~_

_~A Hot Deilicous Cup Of Tea :)_


	3. First Day for Adventure and Albinos!

_Hey again! It's time for the next chapter, before I actually finish the chapter AFTER this one! :) Okay, before you go on, I need to send out some important news that I think you should know..._

_Well, a few weeks, my grandma's computer (the one I'm using now) started screwing up, so bad that I and my grandma believe that it's going to die soon. So hopefully sometime during my next break, someone my grandma knows will be able to take her out to buy a new one, and if I'm right...It'll be a laptop. So it might be a few weeks before updating goes back to normal. BUT, if I do update before the end of the month, it was either because I had usage of my sister's laptop, or that the compy was working well enough for me to type on it. :)_

_Okay, I need to stop going on about this crap, and just go on with what you all want, the story itself. So, let's go! ~_

_..._

_**New Beginnings**_

_**Chapter Three**_

_**A Hetalia Fanfic by Phoenix Amber Kirkland**_

_..._

_(Previously in "New Beginnings"...)_

_ "Are you ready to go, eyebrows?" Allistor asked, leaning up against the wall._

_ "M-My eyebrows are not _that_ big! I-It came from my Mommy!" Arthur retorted, quite shocked by the insult._

_ "You're British, aren't you? You have that accenty thing that Brits have."_

_ "Daddy...I think he might've been a British man...But I don't remember real well."_

_ "That makes sense...Now come on, we're gonna be late!" Allistor grabbed Arthur's hand and opened the door, the both of them running outside..._

_..._

Meanwhile, in Alfred's classroom, his students began to notice that something was astray in the class.

"Mr. Jones..." a young student by the name of Elizabeth asked timidly.

"Yes, Elizabeth? Do you have the answer?" Alfred asked as he looked back at the class from his whiteboard.

"Well, yes, but I was wondering...What happened to your little brother? And your rolling chair?"

"Huh? What do you mean, Elizabeth?"

"They aren't there, Mr. Jones. Not a sight of them at all."

Alfred turned around and saw what his student was talking about. Indeed, Arthur was nowhere to be found, and neither was his red roller chair.

"Aw, good gravy...Sheldon, please watch over the class while I'm out, all right? I'll only be a moment!" Alfred commanded as he ran out the door, nearly falling over his rolling chair which had been positioned outside the classroom. "Well, there's the chair...But where could Artie be? He couldn't have gotten too far, could he?"

Back with Arthur and Allistor, they were running between the elementary school and a smaller building, where Allistor said the playschool was located.

"Is the teacher nice?" Arthur asked as they finally slowed down to a walk not far from the front of the school.

"I suppose so. I've only met her twice, and she was nice both times," Allistor said, halting at the doorway to the playschool building. "Here we are, Artie. You want to go in first?"

"W-Why are you volunteering me first? I thought you'd go in first, 'cause you've been here before!" Arthur panicked, shaking his head.

"I-I thought...Well, they're gonna make me go back to Momma...And I thought maybe you could get in and I could go behind you, you know?"

"Okay...I've watched almost every James Bond movie, so I think I know what to do!"

Before Allistor could reply, he saw his mother, and he grabbed Arthur's hand and tore off into the building.

"ALLISTOR! COME BACK HERE WITH ARTHUR!" he could hear Mrs. Oliver yell as the door closed in her face.

"Is your Momma gonna be mad at you? I know Alfred would be...He must be right now!" Arthur managed to get Allistor to let go of his hand, and now he was running beside him.

"Yeah, she'll be real mad, but thinks I'm too _adorable_, so she'll get over it. Now my Daddy's another story. He gets mad when I do something bad, and he'll spank me sometimes when he's mad." Allistor replied grimly, looking away from Arthur.

"Alfred doesn't get mad very much when I do something bad, he'll just tell me not to do it again or something like that. He _does_ spank me if I do something really, really bad, like if I leave the house at night." Arthur said, almost running into Allistor as he halted to a stop outside a door.

The two boys looked up at the door, and saw a brightly painted sign that read: WELCOME TO MS. MATHEWS' CLASS!

"I remember that name! This must be my class! It is yours?" Arthur asked, turning to face Allistor.

"No, I don't see my name on the list...So it must be Mrs. Fossa's class that I'm in." Allistor mumbled, tugging on his dried applesauce-covered shirt.

"Oh...I see. Well, I better go into class, so bye?" Arthur murmured, reaching for the doorknob to the classroom.

Suddenly, Arthur was scooped up into the air by the underarm. He squealed in panic and struggled to get out of his captor's hold.

"Hey, buddy! Don't freak out on me!"

Arthur froze, slowly turning around to face the speaker, Alfred.

"I-I...I didn't mean to leave, it just sorta happened, please don't spank me! I'm really, really sorry!" Arthur said, reaching to cover his bottom, tears coming to his emerald eyes.

Alfred put Arthur back down on the floor, and then went down to his level. "You're _not_ going to get a spanking, but I'm still disappointed with your actions, should've told me that you wanted to go when you did, I _could've _taken you."

Arthur looked down at his light brown shoes as he struggled to wipe the tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Alfred...C-Can you forgive me?"

"I suppose, Arthur. But can you promise _not_ to pull off hijinks like this again?" Alfred murmured, fixing Arthur's mussed-up hair.

"Sure!" Arthur said, looking back up. "I'll stay in the rolly-chair, I won't roll it out of the classroom, and I won't run to the preschool building again!"

"All right, I get ya," Alfred chuckled, standing up again. "Why don't we go meet your teacher, Artie?"

"Um...Mister...Jones? Do you know where Mrs. Fossa's class is?" Allistor whispered, prodding Alfred gently.

"Oh, she's right down the hall, the door with the dog on it." Alfred answered, directing Allistor to the classroom.

Once Allistor went into the room, Alfred felt a pair of hand wrap around his leg tightly. He looked down and saw Arthur around his leg, face buried into Alfred's khaki's as well.

"You ready now, Arthur? Or are you nervous?" Alfred asked, glancing down at his younger brother.

"I'm a little bit scared, Alfred. I mean, what if cannot make friends in class?" Arthur murmured, hand clutching Alfred's pants tighter.

"Aw, you'll be all right, I'm sure! You're the nicest kid I've met, and that's kinda sayin' something. I _was_ with other students only two years ago."

"T-Thank you, Alfred. But I'm still nervous, but I guess that's normal, right?"

"Yeah, that's absolutely normal, sweet sugar scone. Now, let's go, before everybody else gets here!"

Arthur reluctantly followed Alfred, thankful that his Mint Bunny was in his backpack.

Once the pair were at the door, it opened suddenly, a brunette woman stepped out, towel in hand.

"Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! You can go right on in and find your seat, I'll be back!" she said, rushing down the hall like a mad rabbit.

"Humph, I wonder what happened there? Well, let's go find your seat, kay?" Alfred said, leading Arthur into the brightly-lit classroom.

Inside, there was a plethora of toys, chairs, books, and most of all, Legos. There were Legos EVERYWHERE. On the tables, shelves, walls, the ceiling too. Arthur then decided that _this must be where Legos were tested...Or whatever that process was called._

"Dang, must be LEGOLAND in here. You're a lucky duck, Artie. I suppose your seat is somewhere over there," Alfred sighed, pointing over to a set of three long tables with multi-colored chairs, similar to what he had in his class. "Why don't you go try and find it?"

"Okay!" Arthur tried to sound excited through his nervousness as he ran towards the first long table.

It was short work for him to find the chair with his name on it, in red cursive, which he was surprised he could read. That was when he realized that the chair was his favorite color.

"Look, Alfred! My chair's green, and that's my favorite color!" Arthur turned to Alfred, who was standing at the doorway, grinning.

That was when the brunette woman returned, a gray-haired toddler in her arms.

"I am truly sorry for earlier, sir. I had to get my son from my friend. You'd spent the night at her house, right hun? By the way, I'm Ms. Mathews." She said calmly, setting the child in the chair next to Arthur, who grew nervous very quickly.

"Maaa! Don't talk like I'm a baby! And _not_ around my classmates!" the boy whined, looking pleadingly at Ms. Mathews.

"Oh, Gilbert. I wasn't meaning to," Ms. Mathews sighed, then turning to Arthur. "So, you must be Arthur Kirkland? I'm glad you managed to find your seat! Did your father help you?"

"I'm Arthur. But I found my seat by myself. And you're my teacher?" Arthur questioned, studying her features.

Ms. Mathews had shoulder-length hair, light blue eyes, and wasn't very tall, only reaching to Alfred's shoulder.

"Yes, I will be your teacher for the year. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll have Miss Bursky help out with you guys as well." Ms. Mathews seemed unfazed by Arthur's remark, but just went over to Alfred. "You must be Mrs. Toress' replacement, Mr. Jones?"

"Yeah, sure am! Nice to meet you. I'm Arthur's _older brother_, if you must know." Alfred shook her hand with strong force.

"I hope we'll have a fine year together then, Mr. Jones." Ms. Mathews whispered, but load enough for Arthur to catch.

"I hope so, too! Oh, and….This year is Arthur's first year around a classroom atmosphere, so I'm guessing that he'll react differently than other students. But, he has been away from home before, so he's used to being placed in another person's care.

"I did leave an extra note of my concerns and stuff in his backpack, so just ask him for it, he'll give it to you." Alfred blabbered, Ms. Mathews listening politely.

Arthur glanced at Gilbert, who was messing with a LEGO building, and swallowed down fear, deciding to approach him.

"So, you're Gilbert?" he blurted out, almost startling the boy.

Gilbert nodded, turning to face Arthur, making him realize that something seemed….Odd about him. Was it the red eyes? The gray hair?

"I'm Gilbert Belischmidt-Mathews. And your name is…..Arthur? Like the aardvark?" the boy whispered, drumming his fingers into the palm of his hands.

"Yeah! You watch that show? I've read the books _and_ watched the show."

"Me too. Who's your favorite person on there?" Gilbert smiled a tiny, but genuine, smile as he asked the question.

"I like Brain, but D. W. comes second."

Right before Gilbert could reply, a load gasp filled the classroom.

"Romano! This is absolutely fantastico! Look at all the LEGOs!"

The two boys turned their heads to see a boy rush into the classroom, followed by a reddish-brown haired man who was wearing a half-apron.

"Antonio! Did I not tell you to stay next to me until you met Miss Mathews?" the man yelled in a distinctive Italian accent.

And so the flood of students began…..

(Part Two?)

"I've been here long enough, Artie. I really need to go if I want to keep this job. So it's time for me to go, Arts." Alfred sighed, taking note that he was the last guardian to be in the classroom.

"Are you _sure_ that Uni is at home?" Arthur worried, sticking his head into his backpack in search of the light blue unicorn he always had along with his Mint Bunny.

"Yes, and I'll be sure to bring him by if I have time during my lunch break, all right? I really _must _go."

Arthur huffed and zipped his rainbow pack up, placing it on the rack with his name on it.

"Arthur, your brother needs to go. Say goodbye to him now." Ms. Mathews said sternly, starting to lead Alfred out of the room.

"Wait! Before you go away, I need to write you a sticky note so you'll remember!" Arthur panicked, grabbing his personal pad and a pencil he found, quickly writing something on it and smacking it on Alfred's hand, the closest part of Alfred he could reach.

Alfred sighed and lifted up his hand to read what it said. In scratchy letters, it read; "BRING UNI FOR ARTHUR! ASAP!" He chuckled and proceeded to wave goodbye as Ms. Mathews closed him out of the room.

Arthur frowned in disappointment as he went over to the bookshelf, figuring a book would make him feel better.

Just as he was about to pull a particularly thick book off, he felt a hand touch his arm.

"Hey, I was gonna read that book, oui?"

Arthur looked over and saw…A girl? Well, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes like Alfred's, she was wearing a red t-shirt and white khaki pants, Greek-style sandals on her feet.

"Who are you? I don't remember seeing you earlier." Arthur asked, putting the book to his chest in possessiveness.

"My name is Francis Bonnefoy! And I got here late, for my Maman woke up late and thus woke me up later!" the girl gasped in exasperation, her hands up in the air to exaggerate.

"Oh, I'm sorry that happened to you, Francis." Arthur murmured, still looking at her warily.

"It isn't your fault, anyways. Maman is _always_ getting drunk with some other man and _never_ wakes up on time!"

"Why would your Mommy get drunk on a Sunday night? I thought Mommies only got drunk on Fridays, Saturdays, and on that Desperate Housewives show." Arthur's curiosity was piqued by his thoughts being challenged.

"Non, non. They can get drunk _any_ day of the week! Is that what your Maman told you?" Francis gave a disgusted face as she said this.

"No, I got that from the telly. My mommy's not living with me and Alfred right now." Arthur tried to satisfy the girl without telling too much.

"Did she die? Oh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped in sorrow and shock.

"No! She just doesn't _live with me and Alfred anymore!_" Arthur panicked, not expecting the girl to guess so ridiculous to him.

"HEY! Are you bothering Arthur here, Froggie?" Gilbert said as he came in between the two toddlers, a frown on his face.

"Nonsense! I was just about to ask for _that_ back!" Francis defended herself, pointing to the book in Arthur's hand.

"She was not! She was bugging me about my Mommy!" Arthur chose that moment to set the record straight with the argument.

This was followed by an awkward silence, Gilbert and Francis giving him giant eyes.

_What had he said wrong now?_

(To be continued…)

_Damn! That took FOREVER to type! I'm tired now…..:( Well, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, 'cause it was really random and all….I had been writing on this during Math at school, so don't kill me if it sounds really odd!_

_It might be a bit before the next is out, for one, it takes FOREVER to type, and two, I have to finish chapter six of __**Age Downgrade**__ before I get anywhere else, for it's long overdue!_

_All right, time for me to go now!_

_Please review, fave, and check out my poll or Prussia will come after you with a cake to smash in your face!~_

_~Chibi-Chan _


	4. First Day for First Enemies and Friends!

_Hello again peeps! It's Phoenix Amber Kirkland! And it's time for the next chapter of_ _**"New Beginnings"! **__I hope you enjoy this chapter and the ones that come after it, because I'm pretty proud of them! Actually, I've managed to finish this particular saga and have gotten almost halfway through the next one, which is quite interesting so far. Already nearly forty pages altogether. Okay, now let's get on to the story!_

_**New Beginnings**_

_**Chapter Three**_

_**First Day for First Enemies and First Friends!**_

_**By Phoenix Amber Kirkland!**_

_Previously in "New Beginnings"…_

_("Why would your Mummy get drunk on a Sunday? I thought Mummies only got drunk on Fridays, Saturdays, and on that Desperate Housewives show." Arthur's curiosity was piqued by his thoughts being challenged._

_ "Non, non. They can get drunk _any_ day of the week! Is that what your Maman told you?" Francis gave a disgusted face as she said this._

_ "No, I got that from the telly. My Mummy's gone…Somewhere." Arthur tried to satisfy the girl, without telling too much._

_ "Did she die? Oh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped in sorrow and shock._

_ "No! She just doesn't live with me and Alfred anymore!" Arthur panicked, not expecting the girl to guess something so ridiculous to him._

_ "HEY! Are you bothering Arthur here, Froggie?" Gilbert said as he came in-between the two toddlers, a frown on his face._

_ "Nonsense! I was just about to ask for _that_ book!" Francis defended herself, pointing to the book in Arthur's hands._

_ "She was not! She was bugging me on about my Mummy!" Arthur chose that moment to set the record straight with the argument._

_ This was followed by an awkward silence, Gilbert and Francis giving him giant eyes. What had he said wrong this time? …..)_

"Um….Arthur. Francis is a boy." Gilbert murmured, looking at Francis with questioning eyes.

"W-What? But, that cannot be right! Francis looks exactly like a girl, so she has to be one!" Arthur said, freaked out by Gilbert's reply. Francis being a boy had to be absolutely impossible! Boys _did not _wear their hair long and didn't have such a high pitch voice!

"I am _not_ a girl! You hurt my feelings by just thinking that!" Francis growled, stomping away from Arthur in anger.

_It seemed that Arthur had made his first enemy._

Arthur sighed and walked in the other direction, not wanting to get in a fight with….it. He found a chair on the floor near where he suspected Ms. Mathews' desk was, and plopped down in it, letting the volume open up in his lap. It had a beautifully painted picture of a calico cat playing with a ball of yarn. The title read: _"A Kitten's First Christmas"_. Arthur had a feeling he would enjoy the book, and just as he was about to flip to the first page, the book was snatched out of his hands.

"H-Hey! I was just about to read that!" Arthur looked up, seeing a young boy with the book now in his grasp.

"Now it's mine, eyebrows!" the boy chuckled, slamming the book shut.

"My eyebrows are _not_ that bushy, I swear!"

"Yeah they are, dodo-head. They look stupid on you! And so does that vest, you sissy!"

Arthur gasped quietly, but held back and proceeded to put a swift kick into the unknown boy's crotch, causing him to fall to the ground with a wail of pain.

It only took a few seconds for Arthur to realize just _what_ he had done wrong, and then run away from the scene of the crime.

He had found refuge in a play-castle, well away from the boy, and away enough that no one he had met could find him.

_Why had he done that to the boy? Was it because he had called his vest sissy-like? Or was it because of the eyebrows insult?_

"Arthur! Where are you? I need to speak to you!"

He stiffened as he heard Ms. Mathews' voice ring out in the air. He needed to hide, for he didn't want Alfred to find out how much he had messed up on his first day! And he hadn't even been in class for two hours!

But before he could make a plan, the entrance door opened, revealing Ms. Mathews, her yellow scarf dangling to the floor. He scrambled to the back of the castle, as far away from his teacher as he possibly could. It was to no avail though when she grabbed his hand and proceeded to slowly drag him out.

Arthur just continued to look down at his feet as he was walked over to a corner of the room away from the other children, just so no one would see what was happening.

"Arthur, can you look up at me, please?" Ms. Mathews said, lightly grabbing the boy's chin to raise it. Once she had his unwanted attention, she continued. "What did Cody do to make you do such a thing to him?"

He looked over and saw the boy, now identified as Cody, sitting in a chair and crying, hands placed delicately over his private spot.

"Well, h-he took my book away from me without even asking me first, and then….He called me a sissy, so I _had _to do something! And….kicking him there seemed to be the best thing to do, a-at the time, of course!" Arthur sputtered, just wishing for a black hole to come into the floor and suck him down in it.

"Arthur, that was not very nice at all, in fact, it was quite mean of you to do that. I understand that Cody was doing something wrong by calling you names and taking the book you were reading, but that _does not_ warrant you to do what you did to him," the woman sighed, stern tone in her voice. "If you had been in elementary school right now, you might've been suspended for a couple of days. But here, it'll be you missing out on the rest of morning playtime, and you'll be sitting here in the chair you're in now. Cody, you'll have to sit out for the next half hour of playtime, and then you can go back in. All right, boys?"

Both Arthur and Cody nodded, and watched as Ms. Mathews left to go take charge over a small spat over a Lego car.

Once alone, Cody moved his chair away from Arthur, leaving him isolated and upset, or so he thought at first.

As Arthur sat in the hard, orange chair, he felt a tear come to his eye, and he began to feel awfully cold. He just wished that he could go home and play with his new play doctor's kit he had gotten as a thank you for doing something for one of his neighbors.

He knew that wouldn't happen, though. Alfred had a job now, and it wasn't to take care of him. It was almost completely up to him to take care of himself. But he seemed unable to….So what could he do?

"Arthur! Arthur, look over here!"

The toddler froze in the seat, and turned slowly to see two figures beside him. One was a man dressed in….A toga? And the other was a mint-colored rabbit with wings.

"Who are you? I didn't see you earlier…."Arthur whispered, looking at them with wide eyes.

"I am Britannia Angel, and he is Flying Mint Bunny." The Angel man said, pointing to himself and Flying Mint Bunny.

"Hi! I'm sure you remember me really well! I _ have _been living as a stuffed animal my whole life!" Flying Mint Bunny chirped as he flew around Arthur's head.

Arthur gasped in recognition, and broke out into a wide grin.

"Wowzers, it's really nice to meet you in real life, Minty. Can I call you that?"

Minty nodded, and landed softly on Arthur's lap. Britannia smiled and sat on the floor next to Arthur. "We're not completely real, but we can be, only if you can believe we're here, that we exist."

"Oh, okay! So, are there more like you?"

"There might be, and only if you summon them."

The three sat there, idly chatting, until Arthur fell asleep in his chair, still sitting up…

"WAKE UP, ARTHUR! YOU'RE MISSING LUNCHTIME!"

Arthur was awoken by shouts, of whom he soon identified as the closest person to a friend, Gilbert.

"Come on, come on! You can come out of timeout now!" the boy cheered, tugging on Arthur's hand.

Arthur rubbed his eyes with his free hand, and allowed himself to be dragged to the long tables once more, where a small tray sat at his seat.

"See! They have pizza! And cookies too!"

Arthur was pleasantly surprised by the lunch selection, for he had expected something similar to what he had seen in books…But it wasn't!

On his plastic tray, there was a carton of milk, diced pears, white rice, a cheese pizza slice, and a tiny sugar cookie.

He sat in his seat and calmly ate his lunch while he listened to Gilbert go on about the pet canary he had gotten over the summer, and how awesome it was.

But suddenly, the person beside him tapped him on his shoulder. He turned in his seat, and saw a young boy with spiked up hair, and bright blue eyes.

"I'm Mathias! You must be Arthur, 'cause your desk says so! Weren't you the one who kicked Cody earlier? That was SO cool!" the boy went on, smiling the whole time.

"Hi, Mathias. Yeah, I was the one who kicked him, but I really didn't mean to!" Arthur chirped, quickly beginning to like Mathias.

"Hey, you were that guy, who played the knight in the play during camp, aren't you?" Gilbert asked, cookie sticking out of his mouth.

"Yup! Didn't you play the evil king? You totally _rocked _that one!"

Arthur giggled at Mathias' choice of words, and took a long sip of milk.

"You know what? Why don't we be friends? Like, we could have our own rules as bros and stuff!" Mathias blurted out, slamming his milk down on the table.

"But we…We barely even know each-other!" Arthur said, a bit worried.

"That's okay! It's what school is for, silly! Getting to know other people and learnin' 'bout dumb stuff like numbers! And since me and Gil know each other a little, all we really need to do is get to know you, and for you to know us!"

Gilbert nodded in agreement just as the load clap of hands interrupted the student's chatter.

"All right, students! Lunchtime is over for today! I want you all to form an orderly line at the trashcan so you can throw away your trash, and then, you may go outside through the back door. There will be further instructions outside, so wait for me!" Ms. Mathews said, unlocking the back door.

She dismissed the students by rows, and Arthur was glad his wait was over for his row when she called them up.

When he made it over to the trash can to empty his tray, he received a small wink from Ms. Mathews as she helped him dump it out. He wondered if it had any significance, but he decided he'd ask Alfred after school; cause he knew almost everything anyways, so surely he had to know.

Arthur ran over to join his new friends by the door, and they went outdoors together, and waited with the other students for Ms. Mathews to come out…

_(To Be Continued in Chapter Four!)_

_I hope you enjoyed this story, cause I've been having such a good time writing it so far. As you might know, I've already headed to the second story in Arthur and Alfred's little adventures, I expect it to be really good too! In fact, I actually need a new notebook to write the story in, because I've filled up almost all of the pages with this particular story in it._

_ Also, I'm going to try and draw some fanart for this soon to put on my DA, but do feel welcome to submit some of your own, I'd love to see it!_

_ And…..I've picked up writing CountryxReaders recently on DA, and I've got a GermanyxReader up if you haven't already read it. I do need to finish 4 or more requests in this category, so it might take a wee while before the next chapter gets around to my to-do list of things to type up, lol. _

_ Lastly, for I know you're bored out of your minds, school will be out for me on June 7__th__, so not too long from now, don't worry about me!_

_Don't forget to Review, Fave, and Check out my poll!_

_~Chibi-Chan_


	5. First Day For Playtime And Comfort!

Page5

_Hello, and welcome to the fourth chapter of my awesomesauce story "New Beginnings"! It's been quite awhile since I got the motivation to get up and actually type this thing, silly me! Well, this is the ending of the first saga of my story, and I'm almost finished with the second one, so I will not stop updating any time soon! For now, on with the story!~_

_**New Beginnings**_

_**Chapter Four**_

_**First Saga**_

_**A Hetalia Fanfic by Phoenix Amber Kirkland**_

It seemed like an eternity before Ms. Mathews, straightening her red dress, came out to give the "further instructions".

"Now that everyone is out here, it should come to your attention that on _this_ playground, there are rules to follow. If you do not follow these rules, you or other people could possibly get hurt, or in trouble with me. So I would pay attention now if I were you, okay?

"To begin, just like in the classroom, we _will not_ horseplay, nor will we call anyone names, or bully them. Everyone will have a turn on each piece of equipment they so wish to use eventually, so I don't want to hear about fights over that kind of nonsense. Also, I _will not_ tolerate people hurting others _with_ the equipment. It is not for harm, but for play.

"Lastly, if you even _think_ about wondering to the elementary school playground, you will receive punishment. There is a reason for there being two playgrounds, so let's stay on the one that is provided to you."

For the next hour and a half, Gilbert, Mathias, and Arthur ran around the playground, acting like buddies and having fun, until they noticed that parents were beginning to come out to pick up their children.

"It won't be long before Norge comes to take me home, so why don't we wait for our parents?" Mathias suggested, following Arthur down the slide, jumping in behind the other two in front of him.

"I dunno when Alfred's gonna pick me up, or it'll even be him at all." Arthur remarked, waiting for Mathias to catch up as they went to the bench to wait.

"I halfta stay until Mamma leaves here anyway." Gilbert sighed, slowly sucking on the tip of his thumb.

Mathias grumbled to himself, but sat and waited, leaning into Arthur's shoulder, much to Arthur's surprise.

Arthur _wanted_ to play on the playground longer, but he also wanted to be with his friends until it was time for him to go. And Mathias was already leaning on him, so he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Not too long after they had settled down on the bench, a man in florist's clothing came walking, a hand-painted Chinese sun-umbrella in his hand. He had short blond hair that was pinned down with a set of barrettes.

"NORGE! YOU'RE HERE!" Mathias cheered, hopping onto one of his legs with what looked like great force.

"Hello, Mathias. I assume you had a good first day?" the man who seemed to be called "Norge" asked.

"Yes! I met some people too! And now we're Bros!"

"Who are your "bros"? May I meet them?"

Mathias nodded, taking his guardian's hand and dragging him to the bench where Arthur and Gilbert still were sitting.

"Arthur! Gilbert! This is my Papa Norge! Norge, this is Arthur and Gilbert!" Mathias said cheerfully, pointing back and forth in introduction.

"Hello, Arthur and Gilbert. I do hope Mathias hasn't caused you too much trouble?" Norge said, folding his umbrella back into itself.

"Nah! He's funny!" Arthur giggled, leaning back into the bench.

Norge and the other two laughed along with Arthur, until a minute or two passed, and Norge composed himself.

"Alright, Mathias. It's time for me to head back to the flower shop for my next shift, let's go." Norge took Mathias by the hand, and after saying goodbye, lead him away.

It wasn't too much later before it was time for Arthur to return to Alfred's classroom. What he wondered though, was who was going to take him back, and when they would be getting there to get him? Alfred hadn't told him anything the previous evening….

Speaking of evening, Arthur was starting to get hungry, he wished that he was home, preparing a sort've extravagant dinner with Alfred for themselves.

"Arthur! Eyebrows! It's me!"

Arthur shot up from the bench, and saw Allistor and Mrs. Oliver nearby, apparently waiting for him. He hopped down off the bench and ran over to where they were. "I waited for you _forever!_" He said in excitement, jumping in front of Allistor, who gave him an odd look.

"Was your school day productive, Arthur?" Mrs. Oliver asked, digging into her purse for something, probably the school keys.

"I-I suppose. It was very different….And I did get in trouble, but only once! I met some people too! Even one that looked like a girl but wasn't at all!" Arthur said, bubbling over with his desire to tell what had progressed during the day.

"That's wonderful, dear! Why don't we take you back to your older brother now? His last students got out about a half-hour ago."

"Yes! I can't _wait_ to see Alfred!"

Allistor laughed when he heard the answer, and Mrs. Oliver let out a small chuckle. Arthur was almost glad that his day would soon be over, but he wished that he didn't have to leave his friends….Allistor, Gilbert, and Mathias.

"Can I at least say goodbye to Gilbert first?" Arthur asked, yawning as he did so.

"All right, but please make it quick!" Mrs. Oliver sighed, looking down at her son and Arthur.

Arthur bolted off over to where Ms. Mathews was, pushing Gilbert on the swings nearby now that almost all the students were gone. Had Ms. Mathews not had the lanyard with her school ID on, she and Gilbert would've looked like they came out of a picture.

"Gilbert! Gilbert! I gotta go now!" Arthur said, rushing over to the swing beside Gilbert's.

"Really? That's too bad!" Gilbert said, eyes closed as he enjoyed the cool, late summer air.

"Oh, well I'll see you tomorrow then, okay? Can we try to work on your behavior some then?" Ms. Mathews asked, looking at her student.

"O-Okay, I'll try. Bye, Gilbert, Ms. Mathews." Arthur said nervously, walking quickly away, over to Allistor.

"Hey kiddo! How was playschool? Did you enjoy it?" Alfred burst out the very moment he saw Arthur come in through the door to his classroom.

"It was okay, but it could've been better," Arthur answered bluntly, setting his backpack on the nearest table to him. "You forgot to bring Uni to me today."

"Sorry about that Artie. Some of my students got into some dumb fight during lunch and I wasn't able to drop by the house, much less get out of the school."

"Yes, I wouldn't have let him leave me like that anyways. Taking care of students when things like that happen is hard without your teammate." Another man spoke from the back of the room.

Arthur jumped back, startled, and he turned to face a sturdy-looking man with slicked back blonde hair.

"I'm Mr. Belischmidt. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier."

"Arthur, he's my team partner! He teaches Language Arts and Social Studies." Alfred piped in, to which Arthur shook off the unfamiliar terms.

"I'm Arthur…Alfred's _little_ brother!" Arthur said, climbing into Alfred's lap.

"So, did anything interesting happen today?"

"Well….I met this boy named Francis who was dressed like a girl, and I also made two friends. We're 'bros' now!"

"That sounds awfully exciting. I told you you'd make friends!" Alfred said cheerfully.

That was when Mr. Belischmidt got up from where he had previously sat. "I think it's time I packed up and headed home for the evening. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Alfred, Arthur." He said as he waved and exited the room.

"Bye, Mr. Belischmidt!" the brothers say as they waved him off.

Once he was gone, Alfred looked down at Arthur with a sudden serious expression.

"I caught wind of what happened at playschool today, Arthur. You know what I'm talking about." Alfred says, much to Arthur displeasure.

"I know Alfred, I-I didn't mean to do it! He wouldn't lay off me! He was _about_ to take my book!" Arthur hastily defended himself.

"I understand that, but you shouldn't have resorted to what you did, you should have told Ms. Mathews or came up with an agreement at least."

"But Alfred! He was _insulting_ me! He called me a _sissy_ and he told me that my vest was ugly! I-I-I was so angry and I didn't think it through. I'm sorry, Al…"Arthur wandered off in his sentence, tears beginning to stream from his eyes.

"He should have not called you names at all, and I'll let Ms. Mathews know about this tomorrow morning when I drop you off again. But I want to ask you something. Will you promise to me that you won't do something so rash when you get upset again? You can always count to ten of you find yourself frustrated, that always help me." Alfred cooed softly as he rubbed circles in Arthur's back, knowing it would calm him down.

"Y-Yeah, I promise. Can we go home now, Alfred?" Arthur murmured, looking up at his older brother.

"Of course. We'll go home and I'll fix you your favorite dinner if you want, and then we'll do whatever you wish until bedtime. That sounds fair?"

"Okay. And can you read me a story tonight?"

"Yeah, I'll read you that rabbit story you wanted me to read to you this morning. Now let's head to the car." Alfred says almost in a whisper as he starts to carry Arthur out of the classroom with their belongings…..

_To be continued in Story #2!_


	6. Time for New Voices And Relatives!

_Well hello! Welcome to Chapter One of the second ark of __**New Beginnings.**__It's been a good ride with all of you guys, and I can't wait to drill out all of these new chapters for you to read! Enjoy!_

_Thisisalinebro_

**New Beginnings**

**Chapter One**

**2****nd**** Ark**

**A Hetalia Fanfic by London-Calling-Flash-Chimes**

Thisisalinebro

"Alright, students. Before we get to your playtime, I have something to announce!" Ms. Mathews said as she clapped her hands, catching the attention of every student in the class.

Four year old Arthur Kirkland looked over at his teacher, who looked extremely nervous. He wanted to ask why, but he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer from her. He would just have to wait, he figured.

Once the students were huddled around the front of the class, Ms. Mathews came from the front door, holding the hand of a young boy.

The entire class gasped as they saw the new person. He was a short, brunette-haired boy with bright amber eyes. He also wore a square pair of glasses, and to Arthur, he had an odd resemblance to his older brother, Alfred.

"Class, I would like you to meet our newest student, Roger Hawthorne. Roger, could you wave to the class?" Ms. Mathews whispered the last part to Roger, who slowly waved to the class as they said hello to him.

Suddenly, Francis spoke up. "Can Roger speak, Ms. Mathews?"

"Uh…He can't. No one currently knows why." Ms. Mathews replied slowly.

The class soon erupted into a buzz of questions, but Roger just hid his face in his hands. Arthur, in the middle of the mass of questions, frowned at the sight of the frightened boy.

Arthur got up from where he sat, and slowly approached Roger, so as not to startle him. He had learned that from taking care of the classroom rabbits, Flopsy and Cottontail.

"H-Hello. I'm Arthur. And you're Roger, am I correct? It's very nice to meet you." Arthur mumbled, holding out his hand.

Roger peeked out from behind his cubby fingers, and blushed slightly. He nodded back to Arthur in recognition, and removed his fingers from his face to shake hands with him.

"You two seem to be doing well, Arthur, Roger," Ms. Mathews said as she popped up from behind Arthur. "Why don't you be Roger's guide, Arthur? You could show him around, tell him how things work. Does that sound alright?"

"I guess so, if Roger doesn't mind, of course." Arthur answered, looking over to Roger with a nervous look, waiting for a definite answer.

Roger shrugged, and looked at Arthur willingly. And that was set, much to the displeasure of the other students in the class.

After the students were settled down, and had gone off to their daily playtime routine, Arthur led Roger to the cabinets where the teacher kept the paper and stuff for the various crafts that the class would make, and he handed Roger a few pieces of paper and a sharpened pencil.

"You can use these to tell me anything, and if you can't write, you can also draw it out too!" Arthur said cheerfully as he closed the drawer and looked over at the boy, who was scribbling away on the paper.

_"How old are you, Arthur?"_ The first piece of paper asked, written in messy writing.

"Oh, I'm four!" he said, holding up four fingers. "How old are you?"

He was answered by the rising of five fingers. Arthur's eyes widened, but he held his composure. "Okay, you sure are older than me, you know!"

_"What is your favorite animal?"_

"I _love_ rabbits! They're so cute! You haven't met the class rabbits, have you?"

Roger shook his head, which led to him being dragged by Arthur out across the room to the large cage that held the two English rabbits, Flopsy and Cottontail. He smiled as he slowly petted the soft fur of Flopsy, who seemed to enjoy the rub as she kept twitching her nose.

"Uh, R-Roger? Why can't you…Talk? Did something happen to your voice? Was it taken?" Arthur asked out of curiosity.

_"I don't know. Mommy says someone took it away."_

"I could try to get it back! I'm sure it's a nice voice, isn't it?" Arthur said, looking earnestly at Roger.

_"Don't, Arthur. Doctor says it won't come back."_ Roger frowned as he wrote.

"Sure it will! I mean, it might take a while, but I'll make it work!"

Roger glared at Arthur, who finally sighed and lead him to the playhouse in the middle of the room, where he had hidden from Ms. Mathews and Cody on the first day. It was unoccupied when they entered.

"You can usually count on this place being empty, I don't really know why. But it makes a great place to hide from people! And to nap if you missed out on naptime or something like that." Arthur said, pointing to the tiny cot-like bed in the corner.

Roger sat down in the small chair next to the dinner table, and began to madly draw on a piece of paper, ignoring all that was around him.

Arthur sat down across from him, placing his chin in his hands, pondering over a way to get Roger's voice back. He came up as blank as Roger's paper had been only minutes before. When he laid eyes on the paper, there was a drawing of a man in a bright white toga and wing. In his hand, was a wand with a star on the tip. And he had what could've been light hair with a halo hovering above. It was Britannia Angel.

"H-How did you know what Britannia looked like?" Arthur gasped.

_"I saw him outside of the house here. I had a feeling you knew him."_

"Yeah…He's one of my imaginary friends."

Roger nodded in understanding, and gave a small grin. _"Why do you have imaginary friends? Don't you have friends?"_

"I do have friends. There's Mathias, Gilbert, Allistor who's in another class, and I think there might be Cody too…but he's unsure."

_"Okay, sorry about that."_

"Did you go to playschool before you lost your voice? Did you have friends?" Arthur asked.

_"No. But I had friends in the hospital. Like Danny, Mary, Abigail, and Callie. They were almost like me, well, they couldn't talk like everyone else. We used pictures and words, like I am now."_

"Wow, Roger. Could I meet them someday?"

_"I dunno. I think you could, if you had permission."_

"Maybe I will, but I'll halfta ask Alfred first, cause he'd the one to take me there! You could go too, Roger!"Arthur said cheerfully.

_A few hours later…._

Outside on the playground, Arthur and Roger raced each other to the bench where Arthur's friends usually sat to wait for their parents, and when they got there, they noticed that an older man was already sitting there.

"Hey, you're sitting on our bench!" Arthur said, climbing on beside the man, Roger following behind.

"I am very sorry. I was just waiting for my grandson, Arthur Kirkland. Do you know him?" he said, adjusting his glasses over his hazel eyes.

"H-Hey! I don't know you? How do you know my name? Do you have proof of knowing me?" Arthur asked, eyes beginning to narrow.

The man dug out his brown leather wallet out of his front pocket and flipped it open. A gallery of pictures fell out, and they all were people Arthur was somewhat familiar with. There were a lot of pictures with Alfred when he was probably a preteen. The last one though, was the old man holding a laughing baby, Arthur.

"O-Oh. I'm sorry, I was just suspicious Granpa? But, could you tell me why you're here now? Did Alfred send you here to get me?"

"Well, I just came back from Great Britain, and only recently heard of what happened to your parents, and I decided to pay you a visit, see how you were. Alfred told me straight off that you two didn't need help, but that he was very glad to see me," Granpa chuckled, glancing at some pictures of Alfred at an amusement park. "He also said that you started to show off your rebel side like I had a long time ago. Do you know I had a somewhat successful rock band in Great Britain?"

"Really? What were they called? Did you sing like Mick Jagger or something? I didn't know my Granpa was a rock star, Roger!" Arthur said the last part to Roger, who sat on Granpa's other side, eyes wide.

"Yes, they were called "Huckleberry Blood". I did keyboards, and a little bit of drums."

"Wow, could you teach me keyboard someday?"

"Possibly. But for now, I believe it's time to go back to Alfred's classroom." Granpa said, sitting up from the bench, offering his wrinkled hand to Arthur.

"Allrighty, bye-bye Roger!" Arthur said as he took Granpa's hand, being led away.

Roger waved sadly as Arthur disappeared between the playschool and middle school buildings.

"Can Roger talk, Arthur?" Granpa asked, looking down at him.

"No, and no one knows why. But I want to help him get his voice back! He doesn't want me to try, but I'm gonna anyway!"

Granpa nodded curtly, and opened the door into the school, where Arthur was jumped by his friend, Allistor.

"Hey, eye-brows! Didja like the new student everyone was talking about?" Allistor asked, reeking of apple juice which he so commonly drank, and spilled.

"He was pretty cool. And I'm gonna try to get his voice back!" Arthur murmured, trying to pry off his friend.

"Ooh! Do you _like_ him?"

"Not like that! He's my friend! How could I do that to a friend?!" He hissed, frowning in disapproval.

"Just asking! Go back to Mr. Jonny!" Allistor laughed, hopping off of him.

"It's Mr. Jones, you twit!"

Arthur then promptly began to walk down the hall, humming 'It's a Small World' just to annoy Allistor.

"You're mean!" Allistor yelled at Arthur's back as it disappeared around a corner, Granpa following behind.

"That was a bit much, don't you think, Arthur?" Granpa asked as he caught up to Arthur, who was opening the door to Alfred's classroom.

"No, it was just an argument. He'll be okay tomorrow."

At the other end of the room, sat Alfred at his desk, leaning back in his rolling chair, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Alfred! Do you have some tea ready for me?" Arthur asked as he ran over to Alfred's desk.

"Yeah, here you go, Artie. How was playschool today?" Alfred said as he handed over the cup of Lady Grey to Arthur, who sat in a chair and sipped the tea.

"It was pretty good. There was a new student today. His name is Roger and he's mute." Arthur said calmly, yawning.

"Oh really now? How does he speak to people?" Alfred looked at Arthur with curious eyes.

"Roger uses paper and pencil. And he's a great drawer! But I want to hear his voice, for I'm sure it's good too."

"That's a lot to hope for, Arthur. Can he even make sounds with his mouth?"

"I…Dunno. I'll try to find out tomorrow! But I'm gonna make it work! Cause if I can talk, he can too!"

After that was a long silence filled with the ungraceful slurps of Alfred finishing up his dark black coffee. Finally, Arthur sat up in his chair.

"Granpa! Aren't you going to go home?" he asked, turning to look at Granpa, who was at the doorway, casually reading a book.

"You want me gone that badly? I was just about to leave! But I'll be around town for a couple months." Granpa replied, closing the book and opening the door out.

"I suppose I'll see you next Thursday, Gramps." Alfred said, looking away from him and out a window.

"Bye Granpa! See you soon!" Arthur said cheerfully, waving as Granpa began to step out of the door.

"All right, I'll see you sometime, Alfie, Artie!" Granpa replied, closing the door behind him, leaving Alfred and Arthur alone.

"I wish he wouldn't call me that stupid name anymore." Alfred murmured, looking back at Arthur, who was grinning as he drank his tea.

"But it's so funny! I like Granpa, he's nice."

"I figured you would. He appears that way, but he isn't like that around adults. He'll con and lie his way to what he wants. I don't trust him around you."

"Oh….Okay. Can we go outside on the playground? I didn't get to play very much today, but it wasn't because I got in trouble, it was because of Roger!" Arthur said, setting his nearly empty cup on Alfred's desk and slipping out of his chair.

"All right, I suppose we can go out this evening, but not for very long, we need to go to the store tonight so we can pick up some things…." Alfred sighed, dragging off on the last part of his sentence.

"We just went to the store on Friday! Did you forget something?"

"Well, I took up an offer…To take care of another child Mom had."

"Do you mean…I'm a big brother now?!" Arthur gasped, eyes widened to the size of moons.

"Yep, and you will have a little brother. I also had enough time to get some weekend help from your teacher, so you might be able to see Gilbert on the weekends."

"When am I gonna get to see him? What's his name? Is he shrieky?"

"You'll see him in three days, his name is Soren, and I myself haven't met him, you know that I don't visit the mental center very much."

"Is Mummy and Daddy all right?"

"Yeah, the nurse said that they're doing okay, aside from Ma having Soren, and if I'm right, you might be able to meet them yourself for once."

_(To Be Continued…)_


End file.
